Field
The present invention relates to systems that identify and track puts and takes of items by subjects in real space.
Description of Related Art
A difficult problem in image processing arises when images from multiple cameras disposed over large spaces are used to identify and track actions of subjects.
Tracking actions of subjects within an area of real space, such as a people in a shopping store, present many technical challenges. For example, consider such an image processing system deployed in a shopping store with multiple customers moving in aisles between the shelves and open spaces within the shopping store. Customers take items from shelves and put those in their respective shopping carts or baskets. Customers may also put items on the shelf, if they do not want the item.
While the customers are performing these actions, different portions of customers and different portions of the shelves or other display configurations holding inventory of the store will be occluded in images from different cameras because of the presence of other customers, shelves, and product displays, etc. Also, there can be many customers in the store at any given time, making it difficult to identify and track individuals and their actions over time.
It is desirable to provide a system that can more effectively and automatically identify and track put and take actions of subjects in large spaces.